Enemy doesn't fully control Bakhmut, fighting is ongoing - Maliar

Russian occupation forces have failed to capture Ukraine, so they are focusing their efforts on trying to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The situation in the Bakhmut direction has not changed significantly since yesterday, and fighting continues.

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said this on the air of the telethon "United News", Ukrinform reports.

"The east remains our epicenter, and, in fact, the enemy is advancing in several directions there, and this situation has been observed for several months. The fact is that the enemy does not abandon its main goal of capturing the whole of Ukraine, but because they have failed to do so, they are now trying to move in certain fragments. Their first area is the east. They want to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Actually, the fiercest fighting is in Marinka, Avdiivka and Bakhmut direction. The enemy is massing most of its forces in the Bakhmut direction, and that is why the media and society have been focusing on this direction for several days now," said Maliar.

The deputy minister also said that the Defense Forces retain control over certain industrial and private sector infrastructure facilities in the southwestern district of Bakhmut - the "Airplane" area.

"Throughout the night and now the enemy is clearing the territories they have taken control of in the city. This means that they are looking for our sabotage groups that might resist," said Maliar, adding that the occupiers pretend that they have completely taken control of the city, but this is not true.

According to the deputy minister, the defense of Bakhmut as a city has fully fulfilled its military tasks. In particular, the Defense Forces had several tasks: to concentrate enemy forces in this place, to gain time for other tasks and to destroy a large number of occupants in months of fighting.

She also assured that the command and staff of the Defense Forces work around the clock and make decisions based on the current situation at the front.

Answering the question of how much time the occupiers are currently spending on training their mobilized soldiers, Maliar said: "The Russians do not abandon their goal to fully advance in the Bakhmut direction, not only in the city itself. The fact that they may have problems with personnel - I advise you not to have illusions about this. It doesn't matter how much time they spend on training, the key is that they have very large reserves of personnel simply because this country is much larger in terms of the number of people," Maliar said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, border guards in Bakhmut used mortars to thwart an attack by the invaders.

From February 24, 2022, to May 22, 2023, the Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated about 203,880 Russian invaders, including 720 people on the previous day.